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A downward spiral that saw it ranked last among the city's casinos ended Tuesday morning as about a half-dozen gamblers who stayed to the end got up from the lone blackjack table in operation or from a few slot machines and walked out beneath the dozens of glittery chandeliers for the last time.
Dealer Ruth Hardrick worked at Trump Plaza for 26 of its 30 years, but is now without a job. She's in a large group: About 8,000 Atlantic City casino workers have lost their jobs this year,
and another 3,000 could join them if Trump Plaza's parent company makes good on its threat to shutter the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort in November.
"What's the next step? Where do we go from here?" she asked. "It's happening all over. A lot of us are in the same boat. You think something will come along (to save the casino). And it didn't."
Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos. It now has eight.
Unlike Revel, which opened just over two years ago and was considered new and luxurious before closing, or the still-profitable Showboat, shuttered by its owner in the name of
reducing competition for the remaining casinos in town, the demise of Trump Plaza could be seen a long way off.
Despite its prime location at the heart of the Boardwalk and the end of the Atlantic City Expressway (its motto had been "The Center Of It All"), gamblers have been abandoning
Trump Plaza for newer, ritzier casinos for years. Its owners, Trump Entertainment Resorts, let it deteriorate in recent years, particularly after a sale for the bargain-basement price of $20 million to a California firm fell through last year.
SOURCE
Dealer Ruth Hardrick worked at Trump Plaza for 26 of its 30 years, but is now without a job. She's in a large group: About 8,000 Atlantic City casino workers have lost their jobs this year,
and another 3,000 could join them if Trump Plaza's parent company makes good on its threat to shutter the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort in November.
"What's the next step? Where do we go from here?" she asked. "It's happening all over. A lot of us are in the same boat. You think something will come along (to save the casino). And it didn't."
Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos. It now has eight.
Unlike Revel, which opened just over two years ago and was considered new and luxurious before closing, or the still-profitable Showboat, shuttered by its owner in the name of
reducing competition for the remaining casinos in town, the demise of Trump Plaza could be seen a long way off.
Despite its prime location at the heart of the Boardwalk and the end of the Atlantic City Expressway (its motto had been "The Center Of It All"), gamblers have been abandoning
Trump Plaza for newer, ritzier casinos for years. Its owners, Trump Entertainment Resorts, let it deteriorate in recent years, particularly after a sale for the bargain-basement price of $20 million to a California firm fell through last year.
SOURCE